Till the End
by BiteMyTongue
Summary: When Bella was younger, she always loved the dinosaur on Rugrats, so when she got a real life dragon there wasn't much question on what his name was going to be. When she moves to a small town in California her and her little dragon figure out the guy next door has the potential to be more than just another neighbor.


Author's Note

I think this is my first Bella and Peter Hale one shot, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure. I hope it's worth it!

Tell me what you think, and I hope you enjoy!

-Page Break-

Bella sat on the floor of her new luxury apartment, boxes surrounded her but she had no energy to get to unpacking just yet. This apartment was far too big for just her, but as always vampires were over the top. She reached over and pet the small red dragon looking creature beside her. "I know it's not exactly the greatest thing ever, but it's better than Italy. I promise, we'll be good here."

The creature looked up at Bella's it's dark black eyes staring at her intently. Like a dog the dragon pressed its head to Bella's palm seeking warmth and affection.

Bella smiled moving and curling herself around the small creature. "I know. We'll move to an actual house once I figure out if this is a good enough town for us. We'll have a big back yard, so you can run into the woods and chase down little furry creatures all you want."

The dragon huffed, a small puff of smoke escaping its nostrils, as it moved closer to Bella.

"I love you too, Reptar." Bella responded with a smile.

Bella fell asleep curled around her little creature. She only woke when her phone vibrated in her pocket, she stood at the same time her little creature headed towards the bedroom to wrap himself up in her blankets.

"Hello." She answered not bothering to see who it was that was calling her.

"Have you finished unpacking?" The soft accent over the phone questioned.

"Not entirely. I have to finish my work room, but I'll do that when I can trust Reptar not to fly out the window. How is Italy?" Bella questioned as she put the phone on speaker and began to move about the living room setting her books away on the shelves. "I'm assuming being King is hard."

"It's difficult without a queen, but yes everything is going well, Isabella." He responded his voice soft and curt. "Demetri will be in the area within a few months…"

"I can take care of myself, Jasper. I thought we settled that already, and as I remember I was the one to save your life on a few occasions." Bella said a frown on her face as she moved to pick the phone back up.

"I was referring to the fact that our pets need a part of each of us." Jasper responded with a light tone that sounded more amused than annoyed. "Demetri will be delivering my venom to you and you will give him your blood to return to me."

"Sorry, I forgot about that." Bella said looking over at the small vile that sat on her kitchen counter. "I have enough to last us for a bit, so there's no rush. How's Ash doing?"

"Well." Jasper responded, and Bella didn't need to physically see him to know he was grinning. "She's taken to scaring the second rankers by chasing them with fire, the slower ones have gotten hurt, but the way I see it she's just removing the weak from the coven."

Bella laughed, "She's much more of a troublemaker than Reptar is."

"I suppose so, though as I recall, it was Reptar that bit the leg off a econd ranker." Jasper responded with a chuckle.

"He was getting snippy with me." Bella responded with a grin, she turned her head as she smelt smoke coming from her bedroom. "I have to go Jasper, I think Reptar lit my blankets on fire again."

"Call if anything dangerous happens." Jasper said before the line went dead.

Bella headed into the bedroom to see that Reptar had in fact lit her bed on fire and was now very happily laying in the warmth of the burned sheets. "Reptar! I'm going to build your bed right now before I have to explain to the landlord why the smoke alarm keeps going off."

-Page Break-

Bella exited her apartment and locked up the place behind her, the tattoo on her arm was moving around and making her itch with irritation. She went to head for the stairs, but fumbled due to the large burning pain that went up her arm. Bella hissed out in pain and pressed her hand against the wall to keep her standing. She didn't understand why this time Reptar was being such infuriating asshole.

"Are you alright?" A voice questioned from behind Bella.

Bella turned and noticed why Reptar was on edge, werewolf. "I'm fine, thank you. I was just having a bit of an arm spasm. I blame it on having to unpack too many books."

"You're my new neighbor." Then man summarized. "I live across the hall."

"Oh." Bella said with a nervous smile, knowing now she had to be careful with the scent of smoke that came with Reptar. "I'm Bella, I'm an introverted artist, so there won't be any loud noise from me to worry about."

"Peter." The man responded with a simple nod of his head. "I'm sure you'll soon feel welcomed."

"Thank you." Bella responded before turning and heading down the stairs. She pressed her hand to her arm before she headed out trying to find a coffee shop to grab something warm to drink and sit in for a while.

She took a seat in table in the back and smiled as the waitress came by to take her drink order. She looked out the window and stared at the California environment.

"I'm assuming this is your first time in California." Peter said taking his drink and sitting in front of her.

"It is. I'm originally from Washington, but I've spent the last few years living in Italy." Bella responded simply turning to look at the man in front of her. "Were you following me, or do you actually come here often?"

"It's the best and closest coffee shop near my home." Peter responded taking a sip of his drink.

"My apologies, I wasn't aware." Bella responded with a small smile.

Peter smirked and leaned back in his seat, "I've never met a necromancer."

Bella laughed, "I'm not a necromancer, that would include dealing with the dead and I prefer the living. I've never been approached so openly by a werewolf, especially when they're alone."

"I'm sure I can handle myself." Peter responded taking a sip of his drink. "I'm hoping I don't have to kill my own neighbor."

Bella smirked leaning forward slightly. "I'm only a threat if I feel threatened. Is this a threat?"

"Of course not, just a chat between neighbors. You're an obvious magic user in some way, and I'm a wolf who lives in the same building it seems we have to learn to… coexist" Peter responded with a smirk.

Bella smiled as the waitress dropped off her coffee, "I wouldn't worry much, Peter. I keep to myself, if you wish to have your pack challenge me I'm all for it, but I wouldn't recommend it. There's a reason I've stayed alive for so long, people seem to underestimate the power I hold. AS long as you and your pack don't threaten my existence I won't do the same."

"I won't tell my pack of you, they should learn to sense you on their own." Peter responded he stood with a smirk on his face. "This was lovely."

-Page Break-

Peter was trying to think of an excuse to avoid attending another long and exaggerated pack meeting when there was a rapid knocking on his door. Before he stood he already caught the sweet scent that belonged to his lovely little neighbor, but he was able to catch the sour tint of her scent that came from pain.

He opened the door and saw the tired look on her face and the ultimate face of resignation. He smirked and leaned against his doorframe. "Morning, darling, something I can help you with?"

Bella glared at the smug look on his face. "I need a place that is secluded from the town, where no one will go. It's urgent."

"And what makes you think I know such a place?" Peter questioned curiously.

"You're too smug right now _not_ to have an answer." Bella frowned, "Look, I'll give you something in return, whatever your cold dead heart desires."

"Good." Peter said grabbing his jacket. "Let's go, we have quite a drive."

Bella sighed and followed him. "Any idea what you're going to ask for?"

"I have a few things in mind." Peter responded simply. "Want to take it back?"

"A deal is a deal. I just want to know if I'm going to have to figure out whether or not I have to plan to kill someone or not." Bella said moving to get into Peter's car, still gripping her arm as Reptar was being a little monster all morning.

Peter glanced at her arm but otherwise stayed silent for the ride. Once he got to the preserve he led her through the forest until he came to a stop he was sure no one ever walked upon. "Here you go."

Bella sighed, "Thank you." She stepped in front of Peter and rolled up the sleeve of her sweater and in an instant, there was a dragon in front of Bella and Peter. "Here you go, you little monster. Run wild, be free, burn it all to the ground for all I care."

Reptar approached Bella and rubbed his head on her legs in comforting gesture before flying off to make a nest in a tree. Bella sighed in relief taking a moment to breathe before turning to Peter. "Okay, any idea on what it is you want from me?"

"Aside from an explanation on this." Peter said gesturing to the dragon that was now happily chasing after a rabbit. "I have yet to choose."

Bella turned to the dragon in question and smiled, "Reptar has been a little monster all morning. He's been inside that apartment all week since we moved in. I couldn't find a place to let him roam free, so he's gotten bored. He destroyed my mattress this morning just for the fun of it, and I believe that he would burn down the building if I didn't take him out today."

Peter stared at the creature as it acted more like a dog than a fire breathing monster. "So that's what you are…"

Bella gave a wide smirk, "Figured it out? Good, I didn't want to be a necromancer anymore."

Peter smirked, "I don't know much, but I know enough to deduce that you're a Dragon Keeper. But I was under the impression that to become a dragon keeper it has to be a pair."

"You're right, there have to be two people involved." Bella responded simply with a shrug of her shoulders. "It's a very long and private story."

"Of course. I am curious, can you use your abilities to track someone down?" Peter questioned curiously.

Bella nodded, "Of course, any person in particular?"

"An alpha werewolf, I prefer to be an alpha and not a beta." Peter responded with a shrug.

"Done. Easy enough, just give me a day or two. Do you mind travelling a bit? Or does the alpha have to be in California?" Bella questioned already taking out her phone and sending a quick message to Jasper to ask about information

"Out of state will be fine." He responded slightly amused that Bella so easily accepted the idea of death.

Bella sighed and stepped forward, "Reptar! What have I said! You don't eat birds, they make you sick!" Bella chased after the small dragon until she was able to pull the bird from his mouth and with a snap of her fingers the bird was up in flames. She glared at her dragon before he took off running again ready to catch another prey animal.

Bella turned back around to see Peter leaning against a tree. "Okay, let's disgust details."

-Page Break-

Bella knocked on Peter's door early at dawn, she was dressed in black and had a warm coffee in her hand. "Peter, can you get dressed? I'm holding up my half of the bargain! I'll be downstairs when you're ready." She shouted through the closed door before turning to head out.

Bella headed down the stairs and let Reptar into the back of her car. She could hear him rustling around in the back and was slightly worried he'd burn her seats if he got bored. She smiled and gestured for Peter to get in once he showed up, she got in and smiled as Reptar was comfortably sitting in the back seat.

"How far are we going?" Peter questioned turning his head to eye the dragon in the backseat. "I'm assuming it's quite a distance if you've woken me at such an awful hour."

Bella smiled, "Arizona." Bella responded as she started to drive. "I've found the perfect Alpha, so get comfortable because this is going to be a long ride."

"We couldn't get a plane?" Peter responded.

"We could've, but where I go Reptar goes and well… he's not too fond of planes." Bella responded looking into the rearview mirror to check on her pet.

Bella and Peter drove in comfortable silence for hours, until Reptar began to puff out smoke in a show of boredom.

"How long have you had him?" Peter questioned looking at the creature.

"Six years now." Bella responded with a smile. "Don't let his size fool you, he's a lot older than he looks. He gets bigger when he feels threatened, but otherwise he's a big cuddly creature."

"How did you find the fae blood to do the ceremony?" Peter questioned looking at the creature curiously, as he seemed to be fixated on Peter's hair.

Bella smirked, "You researched the materials needed for the ceremony I did?"

"I like to know the people I'm around." Peter responded simply.

"I killed a fae, and drained him of his blood. It was very dramatic, the ceremony asks for Fae blood, but what most people don't know is that to do it correctly it has to be fresh blood from the vein." Bella responded with a sigh. "If the fae had been dead when I took its blood than the dragons would have died early."

"If I'm not mistaken, the only way for this sort of magic to work is if you found your soulmate." Peter interjected with a frown. "And soulmates don't usually live without the other."

"You're missing big parts of the ceremony, Peter. The thing about that sort of old magic is you must know what's real and what's not. With a ceremony this detailed and ancient the information has gotten has gotten mixed up over the centuries." Bella responded.

"How exactly did you come up with the correct information?" Peter questioned.

Bella looked to Peter for a moment before turning her attention back to the road. "I bribed some people, killed others, and eventually I got the original script for the spell. After some translation I figured out the real ingredients and the real steps to make it work."

"Why did you do it?" Peter responded.

Bella sighed, she was one for always being open and honest and they still had eight hours ahead of them, so maybe it wouldn't be horrible. "Have you ever been in love?"

Peter's face grew cold for a moment before shaking his head. "I've never been one to believe in the notion."

Bella smiled over at him. "I'm the opposite. I love easily, and it hurts when that love disappears. So, eight years ago I met my soulmate, the supposed person fate decided was my forever. I fell in love with him, as expected, but I realized quickly that it wasn't real. I loved him because I thought I was supposed to, and he loved me for the same reason. The ceremony was to break the soulmate bond, it was to allow both of us to live without aching to be around the other. It allows us to be friends, without the pressure of having to be more."

"You broke the bond of a soulmate? You do know people search their entire lives for what you had." Peter responded with a frown of confusion.

"It's not as beautiful as people think it is. I've never been one to depend on another, but I depended on him. If he went so much as a few feet away it felt like my heart was collapsing. I walked around with this overwhelming fear that something would happen to him. My entire being revolved around him. It's not as magical as people think, it's being imprisoned in the arms of someone you are told to love. Your choice is taken from you, he had a wife before me and I took that away. It's not like Disney makes it out to be." Bella responded with a frown.

-Page Break-

Bella led Peter up the town house, she could sense his curiosity as they walked up to the front door. Bella knocked and turned her head slightly to see Reptar's head on her shoulder as he was on her like a backpack.

"Are we really going to just walk in through the front door?" Peter questioned unamused as he at the very least wanted a little bit of bloodshed.

"It's polite." Bella responded just before the door opened. A tall man with black hair opened the door, his face fell as he saw Bella. Bella walked past him into the house. "Tonight's not your night, Robby."

Bella headed into the kitchen and opened the fridge looking for the supplies to make a sandwich for her and maybe a piece of meat for Reptar. She ignored the sound of a fight going on and looked through the fridge for food. She smiled as she noticed a chicken defrosting in the sink. "Have at it, Reptar." She focused on the sound of Reptar tearing through the meat as she made herself a sandwich.

Bella sighed, "Reptar, you're just making a mess. If you're not going to eat then don't play with it." Bella took the chicken from him and threw it away. She reached over to find a napkin to clean up his face. "You're like a baby you know."

-Page Break-

Bella conjured up a bunny looking creature with her magic, she used it to entertain Reptar as the dragon had too much pent up energy and was practically bouncing off the walls of her apartment. Jasper had called a week ago to ask about Arizona, apparently it got out that she had destroyed an entire pack of werewolves.

She of course explained it had been exaggerated and she had merely killed one werewolf, and on technicality she wasn't even the one to kill him. Bella turned her head as black wolf approached them, and by the glowing red eyes she knew exactly who it was. The wolf's eyes travelled over to the bunny and Reptar, Bella had the bunny shift a bit and watched as the wolf's red eyes followed it around.

Bella couldn't help the amused laughter as Peter ran over to the bunny competing with Reptar to see who would get him first. Bella saw the moment Reptar recognized the scent of his new wolf friend to be Peter as the Dragon huffed out in excitement.

Bella watched the two chase the bunny all over the place for the remainder of the full moon. Maybe the werewolf wasn't that bad of a person to be around.

-Page Break-

Bella knocked on Peter's door, she smiled widely when he opened it. "Morning." She greeted softly, holding out a small vile for the werewolf.

"What's this?" Peter questioned grabbing the vile and smelling it to get an idea of its ingredients. Although he was sure Bella could kill anyone, he was certain she wouldn't kill him. If she wanted to, he would've been dead weeks ago.

"It's a birthday gift." Bella responded happily.

"It's not my birthday." Peter responded giving Bella a strange look.

"I'm aware. It's my birthday, and it's tradition for me to give out gifts to those I consider friends. Somehow, I have come to consider you a friend, so here is your gift." Bella responded with a smile, she continued to explain what the liquid in the vile could do. "This will allow you to be a lonewolf, once you drink it there will be no need for you to be forced to form pack bonds. You'll be able to survive without going crazy. I'm sure you've come to realize how much I enjoy breaking forced bonds."

Peter smirked, "Thank you, I suppose. I do have to question if this will keep me from forming bonds that I do wish to have."

Bella shook her head. "Of course not. You'll be able to form bonds with whomever you want, but you don't have to. You'll stay perfectly in control and sane. Afterall, Alphas really shouldn't be omegas."

"Come in, I suppose I owe at the very least a breakfast for your birthday." Petere responded with nod of his head.

Bella laughed, "I'll accept a cup of coffee, but no birthday talk."

"Not one for celebration?" Peter questioned closing the door behind Bella.

"I love celebrating other people's birthdays and accomplishments, I just don't really like celebrating my own." Bella responded with ease. "It's always been strange to me to have so much attention focused solely on me."

"Most people would relish in that sort of attention." Peter responded making a coffee cup for Bella, gesturing for her to take a seat on the stool by the counter.

"Certainly, you've accepted the fact that I'm not really most people." Bella responded with a smile.

-Page break-

Bella placed on a black coat and pulled the hood up before she quietly exited her apartment. She walked with Reptar to her car in the middle of the night, as Demetri and his team were due to pass through at any moment and she had assured Jasper that she would be there to meet them.

Bella drove as far as she could before she and Reptar had to begin to make the tread into the woods on foot. While she was more than ready to get this over, it seemed Reptar was enjoying being able to talk a stroll through the woods.

Bella came upon the assigned clearing and was pleased to see that the vampires were already waiting for. Bella gave a smile in greeting, but felt a twinge of annoyance inside when they all bowed to her. She approached slowly. "Hello, Demetri." She greeted the others with a nod of her head.

"My queen." Demetri said standing up straight and bowing his head. "It is a pleasure to see you as always."

Bella smiled, because as much as she had insisted in the past Demetri refused to call her by her name. "I do always enjoy meeting with you, Demetri. You by far are my favorite."

"What a great honor, my Queen." Demetri said with a warm smile. "I hope you were able to make it here safely. We would've met you in town, but as you requested we did our best to stay away from the local pack."

"Thank you. I haven't personally met any of them, but I prefer not to raise any suspicion. I'm assuming you have what I've come for?" Bella said, before her eyes glancing over each of the seven vampires standing behind Demetri. Most of them she recognized, but the one that was standing directly behind Demetri was new.

"Of course, my Queen." Demetri pulled out the vile containing a bright green liquid.

Bella smiled as Reptar practically purred at the smell of Jasper's venom. Bella grabbed the vile and inspected it before placing it in her pocket. "Thank you." She reached into her back pocket to pull out a vile of her own blood. "Please be sure this gets home safely."

Demetri nodded, "I will insure it, my Queen."

"Thank you, Demetri." Bella responded warmly, she went to give the vampire an embrace when she and all the others heard the howling in the distance. Bella smirked as they had obviously used some form of magic to cover their tracks, "Silencing magic." She whispered as she turned her head and watched a pack of werewolves emerge from the shadows surrounding them. If she hadn't been so preoccupied with handing over her blood she probably would've noticed them approach.

"My queen." Demetri said moving to stand in front of Bella.

Bella rolled her eyes and rested a hand on Demetri's shoulder and stood in front of him. She watched closely as the pack came closer and she noticed the familiar man that was towards the back leaning against a tree, she met his eye and sighed when he winked at her before grinning.

Bella watched as a teenaged boy walked forward red eyes sparkling and his second in command right behind him. A negotiation, she could work with that.

Bella walked slowly towards them, and could see all their eyes shift to Reptar as the dragon grew bigger with each step until he was towering over Bella and the wolves. His eyes glowing red and a constant stream of smoke escaping his nose.

"It's curious that you discovered the exact location we were meeting in." Bella began instead of offering a greeting. "Seeing as my friends here are more than capable of covering their tracks. That leads me to believe that someone tipped you off, so who was it?"

"No one tipped us off, we're just protecting our home. We sensed you." The boy responded his eyes shifting to the vampires behind Bella.

Bella nodded, knowing very well it was a lie. "I'm Isabella, the leader of this coven." She placed a hand on Reptar's leg as it was right beside her. "I'm sure we can reach an agreement."

"Scott McCall." The boy responded his shoulders straightening out. "Your coven has slaughtered seven people in town and has left them bloody and open for the world to see."

Bella laughed, and crossed her arms over her chest, because no vampire would waste a meal or cause such a scene. "You have no idea what they are, do you?" She shook her head. "Demetri, come here." She ordered, and in a blink of an eye the vampire was at her side. "I'll give you a hint. Pale complexion, doesn't particularly like to come out during the day, and the myth about Garlic and them is a myth."

"That's not possible. She told us…" Scott rambled off glancing at Derek for a moment before glancing back at Bella in front of her.

Bella smirked widely. "So, I was right? You were tipped off to this meeting."

"No. We weren't." Scott replied trying to think of a way to cover up the slip of his tongue.

Bella turned her head as Demetri did the same, "Camilla…" Bella watched the name trigger on Scott's face and she knew they had her traitor. "Go. Catch her." Bella ordered and in instant all seven vampires disappeared to capture their traitor.

"Are you going to kill her?" Scott responded his eyes drifting to Bella the obvious look of worry on his face.

"Me?" Bella paused and smiled. "No. I don't tend to get my hands dirty, too much to deal with. She'll be taken back to headquarters and dealt with properly. Vampires work different than werewolves, there aren't many second chances. Betraying your coven is not forgiven. I'm assuming that she was the one that killed all of those people in an attempt to get you to destroy the others, so she could play the victim when she returned to HQ."

Scott nodded his head, and with wide eyes looked at Bella hoping that this meant that they would all leave the town on their own freewill. "Does this mean none of you are planning to stay in town?"

Bella sighed in irritation. "They merely came to pick up a specific ingredient that was needed. They'll be gone by daybreak."

"Someone has to be punished for the deaths in town." Derek commented.

Bella took a step back, and watched as the runaway vampire was dragged towards her by Demetri. Demetri forced the vampire on her knees before looking towards Bella apologetically. "My apologies for the trouble, My Queen. What would you like to do with her?"

"Please." The girl begged doing her best to try and get out of Demetri's grip.

Bella frowned, and looked at the girl. She rested her hand on the girl's cheek, "Traitors do not survive in this world, my dear." Bella sighed and stood straighter. "Take her straight to Jasper, allow him to decide her punishment."

The girl began to wail out at the top her lungs at the thought of being left in the mercy of their king. Bella rolled her eyes as she was never one for drama queens, she snapped her fingers and the vampire went motionless. "She'll awake once she's back home." She told Demetri.

Demetri signaled for two of the other vampires to carry the girl. He waited for Bella to give him an instruction on what to do next. "And the wolves, My Queen?"

"They're children, Demetri." Bella responded and gestured to Scott. "He's barely 17, it would be cruel to kill them. Especially since they were lead to their death by a traitor, it doesn't seem morally conscious. I doubt they know about vampire etiquette, and what coven they came here to threaten. Take your leave, as scheduled."

Demetri looked hesitant, but knew better than to argue with her. "I wish you well, My Queen." Demetri bowed before disappearing with the rest of the coven.

Bella turned and smiled at the young wolves. "As you see, they have left. The murderer will be dealt with and your town will return to its previous status." Bella moved to turn to leave back to her car, this evening had not gone as expected and she really did just want to sleep.

"HEY!" Scott shouted giving a loud growl as Bella continued to walk away from him, completely dismissing his status as Alpha of Beacon Hills.

Bella couldn't help the wide smile as Reptar turned and roared back with a stream of fire escaping his mouth. "This meeting is over because I say it is Mr. McCall. If you don't try and hurt me, I won't hurt you, it's a simple compromise. But be warned, try and hurt me and I will destroy you, your pack and anyone you've ever met."

-Page Break-

Bella opened the door to her apartment and wasn't all that surprised to find Peter there. "Thank you for having the decency to wait till morning."

"I waited because the small beast seemed irritable and I figured you had enough to deal with." Peter responded a small smirk creeped its way on his face. "Would you like me to bow?"

Bella laughed, "Come inside, Peter." Bella closed the door behind him and laughed lightly as Reptar charged at Peter. "For some reason, he's grown to like you. I like to think it's because you and he played together during the full moon."

Peter scoffed, "We did not _play_."

Bella entered her kitchen with a grin. "Sure, you didn't." She moved around her kitchen taking out ingredients for breakfast. "I'm assuming the other alpha wasn't too pleased."

"He seemed worried, it's not often you see a real dragon that seems to want to kill you." Peter responded entering the kitchen with Reptar curled up on his chest like a cat.

"I told you this before, Reptar does not take kindly to threats." Bella responded beginning to mix the ingredients for pancakes. "He's very protective, you don't cross the people he likes, and I'm happy to say I'm one of his favorite people."

"They were thrown back about the vampire situation, especially since you weren't a vampire but seemed to be their leader." Peter responded lightly petting the dragon, who was happily soaking up the attention he was being given by the older werewolf. "I am curious about that. If you are the leader, then why would you move away from them to place that is filled with sun."

"My soulmate is the true leader, I simply assisted him in taking over the coven in the first place. To vampires finding a soulmate is precious and rare, because they see Jasper as their king and leader they view me in the same light because we're soulmates." Bella sighed, "A lot of the vampires don't accept that Jasper and I broke our bond as soulmates, so they still view us as a couple."

"Interesting. How long did the two of you spend together?" Peter questioned curiously.

Bella furrowed her brows trying to remember the exact time line. "We were together for about a year, and then we spent another year tracking down the spell to free the both of us. We were soulmates for two years, but we were only really a couple for about a year or so."

Peter hummed, "You stayed friends?"

"Of course." Bella responded with a nod of her head. "Jasper is my best friend, my literal other half, but we're not romantic towards each other."

"At what point did you overthrow the strongest coven in the world?" Peter questioned sitting on a counter stool letting the small dragon chew on his fingers. "From what I've heard the Volturi were the strongest group of creatures the world has ever seen."

Bella smiled over at Peter, "Jasper is the strategist, he has a wonderful ability to create a plan and accomplish it. I happen to be great at exploiting weaknesses, the Volturi's greatest weakness was their leader. Aro was arrogant and he didn't believe anyone would ever overthrow him. A bit of help from fed up members in his coven, and a war later and the coven was ours. It took merely months to accomplish the task, Aro never saw it coming. Jasper took over the leadership part, he has a real gift of being able to lead people, not to mention that he's charming so people want to please him. I helped him sort out which vampires were loyal to Aro and which weren't. It wasn't that hard, especially after we broke our bond, it made it easier to fight a war if we weren't constantly worried about the other."

"You used magic in the war?" Peter responded as a statement.

"There was no other way for me to help. At that point, I knew quite a few spells and charms that made it easy to help in a fight. I don't like to play damsel, so I studied to try and stand my own ground." Bella responded as she moved and began to make the pancakes.

"Why did you leave the coven?" Peter questioned curiously. "You had power with them, you had a home and a coven. Why leave all of that behind?"

Bella shrugged, "They're still my coven, Jasper is still my friend and he has my loyalty just as I have his. I left because I wanted something more. I wanted more than just a life in a castle where everyone bowed when I entered a room, where I didn't have any actual friendships outside of Jasper and Demetri. Everyone there was so scared of me, it just wasn't what I wanted in life, so I came back to the states. I was going to go back to my hometown, but decided against it. And I like the sun, so California was my best bet."

"Hard home life?" Peter responded flicking the Dragon's nose as he bit down particularly hard on his fingers. The dragon huffed out and playfully blew smoke into Peter's face before returning to chew on his fingers.

"Not particularly. My mother loved me as did my father, but they didn't like Jasper. They thought he was too old for me, too scared and too scary. They gave me a choice, Jasper or them. I was Jasper's soulmate and I chose him. They haven't talked to me since, so heading back home just didn't seem like the best choice." Bella responded flipping a pancake and smiling over at Peter. "And before you ask, I don't regret it. I have a wonderful life now, one that I do enjoy and regretting the choices I've made would be useless at this point."

Peter smiled, "What was it you were exchanging in the woods?" Peter questioned changing the subject.

"I was giving my blood to Demetri to take to Jasper, so he can give it to Ash and Demetri was giving me Jasper's venom for Reptar. It's necessary for the dragon's to be healthy, Ash could survive on Jasper's venom, but it makes her a bit cranky. And Reptar doesn't like to take my blood, it scares him." Bella responded with a shrug. "Side effects to the spell."

Bella approached the fridge. "What do you want on your pancakes, Peter? Is syrup fine for you or do you need something more luxurious?"

"Syrup is fine." Peter responded simply. "I wasn't aware you cooked."

"You never asked." Bella responded with a smile. "Don't worry, I'm a great cook. I went to culinary school in Italy during my free time."

Peter laughed, "As I remember you said you were an artist not a cook."

"I can do both." Bella responded with a smile setting a plate in front of Peter. "Wash your hands before you eat." She ordered grabbing Reptar from him and setting him down onto the floor.

-Page Break-

Bella sketched idly as she talked with Jasper on the phone. "And last week we went to this cute little musical in San Diego. It wasn't the best, Italy has spoiled my tastes in fine arts, but it was nice to just watch." Bella said as she dragged her pencil across the page. "Peter then took me to this Greek restaurant and if you could eat Jasper you'd love it."

"Bella, darlin'." Jasper interrupted amusement in his voice. "It's been an hour and all you've done about is talk about this Peter fellow. I'm not sure if you're aware, but it sounds as if the two of you are dating."

Bella paused. "We're not…" She scrunched her brows together in thought. "We spend time together, but it's not like that."

"Okay." Jasper responded softly. "But do you want it to be? I've never heard you talk so highly about someone that wasn't Demetri, and you never sounded like you wanted to jump Demetri's bones like you do with this guy. And if Reptar likes him, that has to mean something about your feelings as well."

Bella sighed, "Jasper, I don't know if I've ever told you, but I hate it when you're right. You always get this smug smile, and it annoys me. I'm glad that I'm not able to see it on you now."

"Love you too, darlin." Jasper responded with a light laugh. "I'll let you go so you can go declare your undying love to this man."

"Goodbye, Jasper." Bella responded hanging up the phone. She looked down at Reptar who was idly chewing on a dog toy Peter had gotten him. "Dammit." She muttered to herself, because she had been dating this guy for the last month or so and she hadn't even noticed. She stood leaving Reptar to his toy before she marched across the hall and knocked on the door of the man in question.

Peter opened the door, a smirk on his face as usual, but this one was softer as he met Bella's gaze. He went to greet the brunette, but was frozen in surprise when her lips were on his in an instance. His hand wrapped around her waist as soon as he realized what was occurring, he could feel her arms wrap around his neck and tug him closer to deepen the kiss.

Bella pulled back when the need for air became too much, she closed her eyes to help her regain her breath for a moment.

"Good morning, love." Peter responded with a smirk "Not that I don't approve, but this wasn't your usual form of greeting."

Bella laughed, "I've just come to the realization that for the last month we've been courting each other."

Peter hummed in confirmation. "Yes, we have. I'm assuming this is an acceptance of my claim on you."

Bella rolled her eyes, "I forgot how possessive wolves can be, but yes." Bella grinned as Peter kissed her again, this time was a lot rougher than the last, but she enjoyed it. Bella smiled as Peter had her pressed against his front door, caged in by his arms, his weight keeping her in place. "To think, we could've been doing this and so much more by now."

Peter grinned, his smile almost predatory. "I'm all for making up lost time, love."

-Page Break-

Bella stood by Peter, she rested her head on his shoulder and yawned. "It's 3am." She said stifling another yawn. "What are we doing in the middle of a magic store, again?"

"There's an Incubus in town." Peter responded showing a rare smile as he looked down at Bella. "I'm going to create something so that those kids don't get themselves killed."

Bella nodded slowly. "Use this root. It'll work better than the other, especially for you wolves. Also, this herb right here will do wonders in disabling an incubus. I have some other stuff in my magic room that I can help you out with. You won't need much from here, especially since a lot of these ingredients are rotting as we speak, the freshest are always the best."

Peter laughed lightly. "Am I going to be allowed to step into your elusive magic room?"

"At this point I'd let you redecorate my magic room if it meant being able to go to sleep." Bella responded with a smile wrapping her arm around Peter. "You're sort of like my very own heated stuffed animal, and it's difficult to sleep without you. Not to mention that you let me cuddle you while Reptar doesn't."

"So, you're using me to get a good night's rest." Peter responded grabbing the material and walking with Bella to pay.

"Absolutely." Bella responded with a small smile, she perked up when she saw some figurines. "I'll be right back." Bella very quickly looked through the figurines until she found one that looked like Ash. She grabbed it and went to meet Peter at the register. Bella felt anger grow inside of her as she watched the worker openly flirt with Peter. She grinned at the woman as Peter wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her close to him.

Before they left Bella snapped her fingers and the pen the girl was currently chewing on exploded covering the girl with blue ink. Bella smiled at the look on the girl's face and she walked out of the store with a hop in her step.

Peter chuckled, but didn't say anything on the matter. He knew he was possessive of Bella and anyone who tried to flirt with her made him want to commit murder, but he also knew Bella was just as possessive and it filled him with happiness to see it come out every now and then.

He kissed her temple and led her back to the car. They drove in silence, Bella inspecting the supplies they bought to make sure they were usable. Peter watched with amusement as Bella set the dragon figurine down on the coffee table and Reptar gave a small roar before grabbing the figurine in his mouth and taking it with him to his nest.

"It looks just like Ash." Bella explained with a smile. "Come on, let's get this done so that we can sleep."

Peter watched as Bella immediately headed towards the table in the back of her magic room and set down the ingredients that they had bought. He however took a moment to look over the shelves that covered every wall in the room. Each shelf was organized and neat, and when he looked through the books there wasn't a speck of dust on any of them. The books were organized into three categories, Creatures, Spells, and Medicine. The herbs that filled an entire wall were all neatly stored away, and Peter could see the very rare ingredients Bella kept on the highest shelves.

"Can you hand me the book on Incubi?" Bella questioned tying her hair back and grabbing the materials to mix together the ingredients.

Peter returned to the books and found the small leather bound book with the word Incubus on the side in gold writing. "What are you planning?"

"Aside from dragging you to bed later, I'm going to give you something that'll weaken the Incubus without you having to get close to it." Bella responded, smiling at Peter as he handed her the book. "The thing with Incubi is that they're attracted to pretty things, more specifically, pretty girls. While I'm sure you're a succubus' type an Incubus won't see you coming. They don't tend to take other males as serious threats, it's an ego thing."

"Have you dealt with one before?" Peter questioned moving to stand behind Bella to watch her work.

"Unfortunately." Bella responded with a frown. "Turns out that to some creatures I have a very innocent face, and there's nothing an incubus loves more than an easy meal. Reptar tore the poor asshole to shreds when he climbed in through my window."

"I do love that creature of yours." Peter commented with a smirk.

Bella smiled, she worked in silence feeling comforted that Peter was in the room with her. Bella finished within the hour and carefully tidied everything up. "These viles are for you and the teens to drink, they're green, so you shouldn't confuse them with this one." Bella said with a smile as she held up two purple viles. "Basically, just throw this at or in the general vicinity of the creature and he'll be immobilized long enough for you to rip his head off."

"Thank you." Peter responded pulling Bella to him once she set down the viles. He moved and kissed her, keeping her tightly pressed to his chest as they kissed. "Come now, let's go to bed."

Bella laughed lightly, "Of course, because after a kiss like that what I _really_ want to do is sleep." Bella teased with a grin.

-Page Break-

Bella groaned, and pulled the sheets tighter around her as she huddled closer to Peter. "Your phone is ringing, you should answer it before I destroy it for disturbing our sleep."

Peter smirked, "I'm afraid it's not my phone that's ringing, my dear."

Bella sat up immediately, because Jasper knew better than to call her in the mornings unless it was completely necessary. She scrambled over Peter and reached for the nightstand to grab her phone. "Hello?"

"Is this Isabella Swan?" A male voice said over the phone.

"Yes, this is her." Bella said her face soon filling with worry, because the voice on the phone was not Jasper.

"I'm father Brown, I'm sure you remember me from when you were just a girl. I'm sorry to give you this news over the phone, but it's necessary. There's been an accident, and your parents have passed away. The town is holding their funeral this weekend, we've been trying to contact you for days." The man said his voice quiet and solemn. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"What day is the funeral?" Bella questioned her eyes shifting around the room already calculating what she needed to take with her.

"Saturday morning, your momma's favorite day." Father Brown replied. "If you could get here sooner we can get some things straightened out before then."

"Of course." Bella said softly. "I'll be there within the day."

Bella ended the call and stared down at her phone for a moment before turning to Peter with wide eyes. "I should pack, shouldn't I?"

"You don't have to go if you don't wish to. You can handle whatever loose ends there are from here." Peter responded running his hand down Bella's back in a comforting gesture.

"I could, but it doesn't feel right." Bella responded with a small smile. "And you have an Incubi to deal with, so I won't ask you to come."

"I'm sure my nephew and his pack are more than capable." Peter responded softly as Bella moved and embraced him.

"Or they'll attack the incubi, get stuck in its spell and by the time you come back you have to deal with entranced pack and an overly egotistical Incubus." Bella responded, she moved and gave Peter a small smile, placing her hand on his cheek. "I'll be fine, I promise. If it makes you feel better, you can pack for me while I get an extra hour of sleep."

Peter laughed, "Get up my dear, you'll pack while I'll book you the next flight to Washington."

Bella smiled, but before Peter could leave the bed, she kissed him, needing a slow kiss to help her center her mind on what was to come. She watched him leave and looked around her room for a moment in shock. She sent Jasper a message letting him know of what had occurred, just out of habit before she stood and began to pack for her trip.

-Page Break-

Bella smiled as Jasper appeared in front of the church just before the funeral. She didn't hesitate to move and give him a warm embrace. "You didn't have to come."

"I know." Jasper responded, he saw the redness in Bella's eyes and he knew that she wouldn't admit it but this was harder than she thought it would be. "How have things been?"

Bella sighed, "A lot of the town people look at me with a mixture of pity and disgust. I guess they don't like my decisions, a few of them have made it quite clear they don't want to see my return. Father Brown has been great though, he helped me arrange a meeting with the lawyers. Turns out that they left me the house and everything else."

Jasper glanced at the leash on her wrist and stared at the German shepherd that sat by Bella's feet. "And him?"

"He was my father's." Bella said with a frown. "A police dog that was injured and my dad took him in permanently. He was also left to me in their will, his name is Jessie. I would give him to one of the many people who've offered to take him, but Reptar has become attached already."

Jasper smiled, "That sounds like him, and when are you leaving?"

"As soon as this is over." Bella responded with a sigh as she looked around. "I always thought when I came back it would be to stay, you know? That I'd want to start over here, live a life like my parents. This place isn't like I remember, the people are awful and there are only bad memories. I keep trying to remember all the times I was happy here, but it feels impossible. Once the funeral and the reception are over I'm getting the hell out of here and going home."

Jasper smiled, and placed Bella's hand in the crook of his elbow. "The faster we go in, the faster we can leave."

"If I cry…" Bella said quietly. "Don't tamper with my emotions. I want to feel it all purely."

Jasper nodded, "Okay, but just say the word and I can make it all go away."

"Thanks Jasper." Bella replied walking slowly into the church. Her anger flared up slightly as a lot of the town glared at her as she made her way to the bench at the front. "I'm sure you can feel exactly why I don't ever want to come back here."

Jasper nodded, as he was feeling a lot of anger and disgust from the people around them. "I can make them all feel a bit of pain, if you wish."

"Thanks for the gesture, but it's probably not the best idea." Bella responded quietly.

-Page Break-

Peter couldn't help his grin as he could sense Bella opening the door to her apartment. He stood and watched as both Reptar and a foreign dog ran into the apartment followed by a tired Bella. "You leave with one pet come home with two?"

Bella smiled, she didn't say much other than moving and wrapping her arms around Peter. "I'm tired and I want a shower, with you preferably."

Peter chuckled, "I'm more than happy to comply."

"If you're going to have sex, may I suggest doing it in his apartment. I don't particularly want to hear that." Jasper said entering the apartment setting Bella's bags by the door. He extended his right arm and in blur of movement a dragon that looked identical to Reptar, minus the color, appeared. Jasper smirked and approached Peter, rolling the sleeve of his shirt back down to cover the scars on his arms. "I'm Jasper, you must be Peter, lil darlin' speaks of you quite often."

"Pleasure." Peter responded eyes narrowing slightly, this was Bella's supposed soulmate.

Bella grinned, intertwining her fingers with Peter's. "Brilliant idea, Jasper. Let's go take a shower, Peter." Bella dragged Peter off to head across the hall to get reacquainted with him.

Later, Peter sat across from Jasper in Bella's living room. It was quiet as Bella was out making sure Jessie went to the bathroom now instead of in the middle of the night. Jasper was reading a book, his feet on the coffee table as he read.

Peter couldn't help the smirk as Reptar climbed onto his lap, he watched as the dragon settled himself down and waited for Peter to give him attention. Peter raised a curious brow as the dragon suddenly stood spreading his wings and baring his teeth towards the other dragon, a roar building up in his throat.

"Enough, Reptar." Jasper said looking up from his book, he tapped the couch twice. "Come here, Ash." The white dragon bounded off and made herself comfortable beside Jasper. Jasper rested one hand on the top of Ash's head, "Reptar sees you as his pack, and Ash here has a tendency of ripping off people's legs. He was protecting you."

Peter smirked, "Is that your clever way of threatening me not to hurt Bella?"

Jasper laughed, "Bella does not need me or anyone to protect her. If you hurt her, that is your problem, you'll be the one dealing with her not me." Jasper leaned back and looked over at Peter. "I can feel your worry, so I'll make it clear. Bella and I are strictly friends, I have a coven and a species to look after I don't need nor do I want a soulmate in my immortal life. I will admit that I love Bella, but it's platonic, it always was. Lil darlin' is just my family, so I'll be around, but I won't try and come between the two of you. Who Bella falls in love with is not my business."

"Good. I would've hated to have to create a plan to kill you." Peter responded returning to pet Reptar.

Jasper tossed his head back and laughed, "From what Bella says you are a worthy opponent, but I have an entire species you'd have to get through. If you come up with any good plans, please tell me it's always a bright idea to discover the weaknesses in my coven."

-Page Break-

Bella paced her apartment, it was getting dark out and she hadn't heard from Peter all day. It wasn't normal for that to happen. Bella grabbed Jessie's leash and placed it on the dog, she looked over at her dragon. "Let's go find, Peter."

Bella headed out and with her dog and her dragon she began to retrace Peter's steps, he had left early in the morning for some pack meeting, but Peter always messaged her during pack meetings. It was always little comments about how irresponsible teenagers were, but she hadn't heard a peep since he left.

Bella allowed Reptar to lead the way, she knew the dragon could track Peter's scent much faster than she could use her magic to do it. It didn't take long for Bella to arrive at a clearing in the forest, her head snapped to Peter who was tied to a tree and being tortured by a spell by some witches. Bella released Jessie from his leash and the dog bounded over to Peter in a quick second. Reptar close behind growing bigger as he ran, blocking the dog from the witches.

Bella's body hummed as her anger and magic mixed together. Bella looked at the three witches that took a step back away from Peter. Bella's eyes glowed white as she let her magic takeover, "Any witch would've known not to come into this territory."

The oldest looking blonde witch stepped forward, "My dear, this was a trap that you walked straight into." She extended her arm and sent Bella flying back, the blonde's eyes turning white as well. "My coven only allows the strongest of our kind, and you need to die if we want to continue to grow. I'd offer you a place, but you're more of a leader than a follower, and I can't have that."

Bella smiled, wiping the blood from her mouth. "The first one's free." She responded spitting out the blood that flowed into her mouth. She ran towards the witch extending her magic to its full force as she tackled the witch to the ground.

Bella had always been aware that she wasn't the strongest of all the witches, she was strong, but there was always going to be someone better than her. What she had learned is, people depend too much on their abilities, witches especially. Witches could bend the world to their will, but they were useless in a physical attack, and if Jasper had taught her anything it was how to defend herself without her abilities.

Bella knew that attacking the witch physically and magically she could get the upper hand long enough to tear the witch apart. Bella stood, her fists were cut and bloody, and the body of the witch was left unrecognizable. Bella met the eyes of the two witches left, both cowering away from her now that their leader was gone. Bella whistled getting Reptar's attention, she pointed to the witches and with joy Reptar chased after them.

Bella walked over to Peter, kneeling to get a good look at his face. "Peter." She said softly, pressing a hand to his chest to feel his heartbeat. She felt relieved when she felt the soft beat, "You have to give me something, love."

"You've never called me that before." Peter rasped out eyes still shut, but his hand came up to meet Bella's where hers lay on his chest.

"Yeah, well you've never almost died before, asshole." Bella said with a frown. "Do you think you can walk, or do I have to wait for Reptar to finish?"

"You lead." Peter said allowing Bella to help him stand, he placed his arm around her waist and used her to help him stand. They both turned at a howl that approached. "Eight hours later, the idiots."

Bella sighed, and turned her head as the child alpha growled at her. "Listen you stupidly naïve teenager, growl at me again and I'll rip your fucking throat out with my bare hands." She smiled as Reptar shrunk back to his normal size and walked over to her and Peter. The small dragon and his dog companion both standing protectively in front of her and Peter.

"I'm going to take Peter here home, and you can clean up this mess. Or don't, I don't particularly care too much." Bella moved and turned walking back out of the forest ready to take Peter home.

Bella sat Peter down on her couch, she sat beside him and pressed her hand to his chest feeling for his heartbeat. "Next time you decide to get kidnapped by witches… don't." She stood stripping Peter of his shirt to get a good look at the wounds he had. Bella was pleased that they were already starting to heal.

Peter watched as Bella headed into the bedroom, he turned his head to see that on his left Reptar was laying his head on Peter's thigh, on his right in a similar position was Jessie and he wondered for a moment when these two creatures were more of his pack than his own nephew.

Peter was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a warm cloth on his skin and Bella was cleaning off the blood on his body. He stayed quiet and let her clean him up, once she was done, she went back to her room and searched for a pair of pajamas for him.

"You don't usually get your hands dirty." Peter interrupted Bella's silence as he changed. "Yet tonight you killed someone with your bare hands."

Bella smiled, "I don't like to get my hands dirty, but I will if necessary."

Peter smirked, "You're in love with me." Peter stated with an amused smile.

Bella rolled her eyes, but didn't deny it. "You need to get some sleep, the last of your wounds will heal when you get enough sleep."

-Page Break-

Peter entered the loft, he was as good as new and after two weeks away it was the right time to meet back with his nephew.

"You're alive." Derek said staring at his uncle, he was slightly relieved to see that he hadn't died after that night.

"I am, nephew." Peter responded moving to take a seat on Derek's couch. "And what are we going to discuss in this meeting?"

"She didn't kill you." Derek responded staring at his uncle with wide eyes and disbelief. "Why didn't she kill you?"

"I'm quite charming." Peter responded with a smile. "We took a bit of a vacation after the incident, we got back just a few days ago."

Derek's eyebrows showed his confusion, "Are you _dating_ her?"

Peter smirked widely. "I'm doing much more than that, nephew. In fact, I think you should be congratulating me. I just married her."

Peter laughed at the look on his nephew's face, he leaned back and enjoyed the several emotions that kept crossing his nephews face. Yes, it was going to be quite fun to inform the rest of the pack when they all started to trickle in. He was married now, and his lovely new wife was his home and his pack and Beacon Hills was once again going to be home to a strong Hale Pack, he was going to make sure of it.


End file.
